Terminal connector for electrical conductors



March 3, 1953 G. P. FELTS ET AL 2 ,630,468

TERMINAL CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Filed April 30, 1951 IN VENTORS.

7:16 '29 oraon F-Z i a'berZWSeger.

Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TERMINAL commerce roeELECTRICAL CONDUCTDRS Application April 30, 1951, Serial No. 223,779

2 Claims.

This invention relates to terminals for multistrand electricalconductors, one type of which is commonly known as tinsel wire, in whicha central multistrand core conductor is covered by flexible insulatingmaterial of well known type. It has been found difficult to provide aterminal of solderless type having lasting. quality and that willproduce an effective electrical connection and it is the primary objectof this invention to over come all previous objections and provide anefficient contact for multistrand conductors Without impairingeffectiveness of electrical connection after long continued use. Amongother objects of the present invention is to provide means for formingand attaching terminals to electrical conducting cords in an improvedmanner.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates our improvements, Fig. 1is a plan of our improved terminal for an electrical conducting cord;Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the construction shown in Fig, 1; Fig. 3is a side elevation of a detail before the piercing contact member isstruck through the covering of insulation and impinged in contact withthe strands of the electrical conducting core; Fig. 4 is a plan of adetail portion of the terminal blank before it is formed for use; Fig. 5is a cross section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and Figs. 6 to 9inclusive are views of various alternative constructions of our improvedmultistrand terminal.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, our improved terminal is formed froma blank, a detail portion of which is shown in Fig. 4, said blank havingthe usual connecting arm or blade II], a pair of laterally spacedconductor holding flanges I I-I I, and the piercing contact member I2.In forming the blank the flanges are first struck laterally so as toproduce a channel or trough I3 in which the end of the insulatedmultistrand conductor cord A is adapted to be held. The piercing memberI2 in use is bent upwardly from the rearward end portion of theconnecting arm I and is formed with a longitudinal conductor cordreceiving passage I4 which registers with the rearward end of thechannel I3. The piercing end of the contact member I2 is pointed at Iand is adapted to be bent and thrust downwardly with its pointed endperforating the insulation covering I6 of the conductor and to engagebetween and in firm contact with the conductor strands I! of the coreI8, as shown in Fig. 5.

The conductor cord A has its core I8 covered by insulation I6, composedof rubber or other non-conducting material, and its core consists ofseveral electrical conducting strands II which are wrapped spirally ordisposed longitudinally in the usual manner. In practice the pointedcontact member I5 is deformed and thrust through the outer covering ofinsulation I6 and into contact between the strands of the conductor coreIt either by hand or by any suitable mechanical means. After theconductor cord is connected the arm or contact blade I0 is ready to beused directly or while applied to a plug such. as is shown in ourcompanion applications, Serial Numbers 213,394,211554, and 177,349, formaking contact with a wall or other connecting socket.

In Fig. 6, the flanges lI-II shown in Fig. 1 are replaced by alongitudinal sleeve 20, which is formed on the arm or blade Ill, throughwhich the conductor cord A is inserted and held. This sleeve has anopening 2| through its side which admits the contact arm 22 and permitsthe latter to be thrust through the insulation covering 23 and made tocontact between the strands Ii of the core [8.

In Fig. 7, instead of the contact arm or blade being thrust by hand intocontact with the strands of the conductor core it is clamped by a collaror sleeve 29 which is slid forwardly over the connecting arm or blade I0and the spring piercing contact member 25, whereby said contact member25 is pressed inwardly with its pointed end piercing the insulatedconductor cord A and making contact between the strands of the conductorcore. The piercing contact member 25 is supported on the conductor cordA by a collar 26, which is formed on the rearward end thereof. Thelateral broken line position of the piercing contact member 25 shown inFig. 7, occurs when the collar is withdrawn rearwardly and assumes theoutward broken line position before it is applied in use. The portion ofthe contact member II] which extends forwardly is provided with a pairof conductor holding side flanges II which are heretofore described. Inuse an end of the conductor cord A is inserted through the collar 26 andis held between the flanges II in juxtaposed position below the forwardperforating pointed end 28 of the spring contact arm 25. Instead ofdepressing the contact arm 25 di rectly by hand to make electricalconnection with the strands I! of the conductor core I8, a sleeve 29 isslidingly supported over the arm Ill andthe conductor A thereon. Whenthe sleeve is slid forwardly it depresses the contact arm and causes thelatter to perforate the covering of insulation I6 on the conductor cordand to make contact with and between the strands I! of the conductor I8.The full line position of the spring contact arm 25 and of the actuatingsleeve 29 indicates the connected position with the core l8 of theconductor cord A and the extended socket contact member [0.

In the alternative construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the blank 30from which the terminal is produced is formed with a pointed end 3|, aconductor cord receiving opening 32 and a cord holding longitudinalrecess 33. In use the end portion of the conductor cord A is firstinserted upwardly through the passage 32 and placed over thelongitudinal recess 33. The pointed end 3| is then bent upwardly andclasped tightly down as shown in Fig. 8 with its pointed end perforatingthe outer insulation 34 on the conductor cord and contacting between thestrands I 1. In this manner the conductor is held rigidly by the pointedend on the terminal both laterally and longitudinally in the recess 33.

Other modifications are contemplated within the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the following claims.

We claim;

1. An electrical connector for an insulated multistrand electricalconductor comprising a generally J-shaped, one-piece terminal memberhaving a long arm constituting a circuit contact blade and a short armconstituting a conductorwire contact member, said short arm being bentup and over said long arm and having a piercing point at its free end, alongitudinal channel in said long arm for holding a conductor laterallytherein, said channel being adjacent the bight and lying under the shortarm, said bight having an opening therein in register with the channelto receive the conductor for placement in the channel, and said piercingpoint being adapted to be pressed through the insulation of theconductor and into contact with the strands thereof.

4 2. An electrical connector for an insulated multistrand electricalconductor comprising a generally J-shaped, one-piece terminal memberhaving a long arm constituting a circuit contact blade and a short armconstituting a conductor-wire contact member, said short arm being bentup and over said long arm and having a piercing point at its free end, alongitudinal sleeve on said long arm for holding a conductor laterallytherein, said sleeve being adjacent the bight and lying under the shortarm and having an opening in the top thereof, said bight having anopening therein in register with the sleeve to receive the conductor forplacement in the sleeve, and said piercing point being adapted to bepressed through the opening in the sleeve and down into the insulationof the conductor and into contact with the strands thereof.

GORDON P. FELTS. ROBERT W. SEEGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,595,031 Steiner Aug. 3, 19261,706,005 Thompson Mar. 19, 1929 1,764,227 Robinson June 17, 1930,780,289 Zepp Nov. 4, 1930 2,309,311 Grohsgal Jan. '26, 1943 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 189,641 England Dec. 7, 1922 596,406 FranceOct. 23, 1925

